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METROSCAPE
Frames
Of Life
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| CONCEPT ART: Street Art (left); Sugati with
her telling images |
Imageographs?
To Mumbai artist Nina Shivdasani Rovshen Sugati, they are impressionable
coloured or black and white photographs to be "decoded like a book".
So be it the smug lethargy of a watermelon vendor, the wild ecstasy of
a young urchin, the pounding intensity of a Shivamani performance or the
rapture of a stolen kiss, Sugati's Conceptual Art Imageographs, on show
at NCPA's Piramal Gallery till July 14, attempts to capture the "essence
of people and situations" as she lets her subjects "reveal themselves"
to her. Sugati switched from canvas to film and studied photography at
New York's School of Visual Arts "because painting did not give me
the satisfaction I needed". It's a decision she does not regret.
Her feature film Chhatrabhang or The Divine Plan won her the Fipresci
international award at the Berlin Film Festival and the Maharashtra state
award for best film in 1975. From simple imageographs, her next body of
work will be both "transcendental and abstract". She's switching
again.
-Himanshi Dhawan
Crazy Dreams
 What
do you call a guy whose debut album is called 2XCentric? Crazy? No. Just
call him Reggie Benjamin. In Delhi to promote his new album, the 20-plus-divulging
his age is "not part of the contract"-Chicago-based singer,
originally from Nuziveedu, an obscure farming town in Andhra Pradesh,
says he nurtures a dream. A dream to deliver a Grammy acceptance speech
one day. A lofty wish it is, but for now, 2XCentric, a blend of "western
musical scales, the sitar and tabla", has been remixed and produced
by Eric E. Smoove whose clientele includes none other than Michael Jackson
and Janet Jackson. That's not all. The video for his first single, Hurry
up, was shot at the prestigious Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills California.
But don't let Benjamin's frizzy mane and ear
drops fool you. He has an associate degree in business communications
from Lucent Technologies and Bell Labs besides a degree in music. That
apart, Club 2X Records, the recording company Benjamin started with just
$110 in his pocket now has a turnover of more than $2 million!
-S. Sahaya
Ranjit
Family Affair
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| SISTER ACT: (From left) Indira, Usha and
Maya |
Most guests take along a bottle of wine or a
bouquet of flowers when attending a dinner. But when the Sami sisters-singer
Usha Uthup and siblings Indira, Uma and Maya-go visiting, the only token
the host appreciates is their voice. Solo or together, soul, pop or rock,
the sisters run the gamut when it comes to musical selections. And there's
more they have in common. They're all altos who were thrown out of their
school choir and enjoy performing at benefits. Which kinda explains why
Child Relief and You pushed them centrestage at a rousing fundraiser held
at Kolkata's Nazrul Manch last weekend.
Although the sisters have performed in the city
before-Uthup particularly is immensely popular on home turf-the venue
was more packed than for most charity shows. The reason, according to
one middle-aged admirer, is because "they manage to bridge the divide
between generations".
So while Indira had the crowd swaying to a gentle
Harry Belafonte number, kid sis Maya-she's 17 years younger than Indira-had
the teenyboppers screaming to Enrique Iglesias' sultry Bailamos. And Usha,
last seen on Channel V Jammin and ever the didi, made sure her Bangalore
and Delhi-based siblings mugged up the lyrics for a lively Bengali finale.
"Although we have our favourite songs, we know there are no barriers
in music," says Uthup. Especially if you have a great voice.
-Labonita
Ghosh
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